An Early Look at Vainglory’s New Hero Varya in Update 2.11

Vainglory’s newest hero to join the Halcyon Fold is Varya, a crystal mage ready to flash down the lane and jungle simultaneously. Varya debuts in Update 2.11 to shine in heavy damage affecting multiple enemies at once. Broken Myth is here with the full scoop on Varya’s abilities, talents and best builds to smite your opponents with early information on 2.11’s shocking meta.
Varya brings back a previously dormant concept — global abilities. Additionally, she continues a recent “earthly” theme with a lightning aura and electric skill set. Not only must you choose between her default apparel or a revamped winter ensemble right off the bat, but also to storm either the rich-in-gold lane or depths of the jungle below. Let’s take a look at Varya’s hero abilities.

Chain Lightning (Heroic Perk)

Varya’s basic attacks deal 55-132 (level 1-12) (+45% crystal power) crystal damage. If Varya holds her ground after basic attacking, she will strike her target and up to 3 additional enemies with a bolt of Chain Lightning. The bolt deals the same damage and consumes 170 energy.

Stormforged Spear (A)

Varya throws a spear at lightning speed, striking the first enemy in its path. This deals a burst of damage to the target and chains additional damage to nearby targets.

When cast during or after Arc Recursion, the spear is thrown more quickly.

The number of additional targets hit is equal to her Chain Lightning attack.

LVL 1

LVL 2

LVL 3

LVL 4

LVL 5

Crystal Ratio

Cooldown

7s

6.5s

6s

5.5s

4.5s

Energy Cost

475

475

475

475

375

Range

13

13

13

13

16

Spear Damage

75

120

165

210

255

220%

Chain Lightning Damage

60

90

120

150

180

110%

Arc Recursion (B)

After gathering power for 0.9 seconds, Varya’s next two movement commands will instantly dash in the chosen direction, striking the 3 nearest enemies at the end of each dash. For each enemy struck, Varya recovers 5% of her energy and gains a barrier equal to 3% of her health (bonuses doubled on heroes).

Overdrive: Varya moves further with each dash.

Varya can dash at any time, but will only dash once if she has not fully charged.

Varya can cast Stormforged Spear at any time during this ability. Any remaining dashes will trigger after the spear is thrown.

Deals 50% less damage to minions.

LVL 1

LVL 2

LVL 3

LVL 4

LVL 5

Crystal Ratio

Cooldown

25s

23s

21s

19s

15s

Energy Cost

200

200

200

200

200

Damage

45

105

165

225

345

60%

Anvil’s Hammer (Ultimate)

After channeling for 2.4 seconds, Varya unleashes the storm fury, calling a series of lightning strikes on every enemy hero, regardless of distance (“global” ability). Passively, each rank of the ultimate permanently increases Varya’s basic attack speed and the number of enemies her Chain Lightning and Stormforged Spear will hit.

Lightning strikes target the ground beneath enemy heroes, giving them an opportunity to move out of the way.

Lightning strikes deal 75% reduced damage to enemies already hit by lightning in the same wave.

Varya can break out of channeling early by activating Stormforged Spear or Arc Recursion. This does not cancel the spell.

Thunderstorm (Legendary)

Below are the three recommended builds SEMC has curated for Varya. For more information on situational items for carries, visit our complete breakdown. Be sure to check our top hero builds page soon for Broken Myth’s Varya hero guide!

Valkyrie

Arc Cannon

That’s a wrap! Update 2.11 activation is planned for Wednesday, December 6th with no downtime. If you have any questions about Vainglory’s newest hero Varya, ask away in the comments below, and we’d be happy to answer them.

her rare talent makes a 0.9 second stun at level 20. Does this stun scale across levels, or is the same across all levels? Because if it’s the latter, she has a 0.9 second stun every 4.5 seconds when she has overdriven her ability, less if you’re by consecutive stuns.

Varya’s base energy is 950-1500 (level 1-12). I recommend using her ultimate right as the fight is starting / just before. This will in turn force the enemy to relocate or move. Otherwise, they’ll take damage, lose vision and be crossed with the decision to fight or flight — immediately.